The 1968 song that launched Pink Floyd in to a new dimension: “Gave us our direction”
There are many different chapters in the extensive history of Pink Floyd. Yet, one of the most interesting is their development out of the psychedelia of their Syd Barrett-led iteration into the refined majesty of the early-mid 1970s, culminating in The Dark Side of the Moon.
Let’s be clear: Pink Floyd didn’t manage this metamorphosis overnight. Following the departure of leader and creative mastermind Barrett in April 1968, it took years for the group to re-align and forge a different path. This was because the band were developing as musicians, and their internal relationships were changing in light of the new artistic dynamic.
Whilst Pink Floyd always produced music of note, the time between Barrett’s departure and 1973 was full of fascinating moments, including successes and misfires in almost equal measure.
This chapter starts with their second album, 1968’s A Saucerful of Secrets – during the recording of which Barrett left, and Gilmour was recruited – and culminates with 1972’s Obscure by Clouds. The latter and its predecessor from the previous year, Meddle, saw the quartet lay the groundwork for their most crucial period, which started with The Dark Side of the Moon.
Whilst it might have taken a while for the band to reach their creative promised land, there was one song that David Gilmour credits with being “very important” for giving them their “direction forward”. Somewhat surprisingly, this was ‘A Saucerful of Secrets’ from the album of the same name.
Rather than signalling a finished identity, the track represented a turning point in how the band approached composition. Moving away from traditional song structures, it embraced abstraction and atmosphere, allowing Pink Floyd to explore sound as a form of expression rather than relying solely on melody or lyrics. In doing so, it opened the door to a more expansive and experimental direction.
That shift proved to be foundational. The ideas first explored in ‘A Saucerful of Secrets’ would gradually evolve across subsequent releases, forming a clear lineage that led directly to their later, more cohesive works. It marked the moment where uncertainty began to give way to purpose, setting the stage for the band’s most celebrated era.
Speaking to Guitar World in 1993, Gilmour explained: “‘A Saucerful of Secrets’ was a very important track; it gave us our direction forward. If you take ‘A Saucerful of Secrets,’ ‘Atom Heart Mother’ and ‘Echoes’ – all lead logically to Dark Side of the Moon. ‘A Saucerful’ was inspired when Roger and Nick [Mason, Pink Floyd’s drummer] began drawing weird shapes on a piece of paper. We then composed music based on the structure of the drawing.”
A song noted for its unusual guitar tones regarding the time, Gilmour was asked by the publication how he achieved such sounds. He said: “Well, on the middle section of ‘A Saucerful of Secrets,’ most of the time the guitar was lying on the studio floor. And I unscrewed one of the legs from a mic stand… You know how mic stands have three steel legs about a foot long? I just whizzed one of those up and down the neck – not very subtly.
Concluding, Gilmour commented: “Another technique, which came a bit later, is to take a small piece of steel and rub it from side to side across the strings. You just move it and stop it in places that sound good. It’s something like an E-bow.”
Listen to ‘A Saucerful of Secrets’ below.
